Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates generally to razor treatment systems and, more particularly, to a razor configured to interact with a razor treatment system.
Description of Related Art
Razors have become ubiquitous and are used by both men and women for their personal shaving needs. Straight-blade razors, which are made of high carbon or stainless steel, exemplify the early modern popular style of shaving implements. These razors can be used for many shaving sessions over a long period of time, but must be maintained by regular sharpening and stropping. The process of sharpening, or honing, the blade uses an abrasive material that removes material from the blade's edge. Stropping, which must be done with each use of a straight-blade razor, straightens and re-aligns the blade, which tends to bend and pit under use, preventing a close shave if not straightened.
Double-edged safety razors replaced the straight edge in popularity in the early part of the twentieth century. The disposal of blades after limited use was made popular and economical by the arrival of blades made of low-cost, thin steel, thereby eliminating the need for stropping or honing. The safety feature of these razors, protecting the user from all but the very edge of the blade, appealed to users. The orientation of the handle and the blade required the user to develop the proper technique to achieve an optimal shave. The next evolution combined the safety of small, thin blades exposed only at the edge, with the proper angle-of-attack and a pivoting head to adjust to the contours of the face. The disposable razor embodied the ease and simplicity of shaving, sacrificing longevity of product by providing disposable blades with limited life. This incarnation of men's and women's personal shaver remains the most popular and widely used, contributing a sizeable negative global economic impact.
While the convenience and ease of use of current disposable razor technology is attractive to users, improvements to certain aspects of the technology may be desirable. A razor that incorporates the safety and usability aspects of the safety razor and the longevity of the straight blade razor would be a desirable improvement to razor technology.
Several different razor sharpening systems are known in the art, however, many of these sharpening systems fail to provide simplified sharpening and stropping of a razor. The razor blade disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,805,895 is used in a stropping device to bend the blade of the razor. However, the razor head remains stationary within the stropping device and fails to work in concert with the stropping device to expose the blade for stropping. Likewise, the razor sharpening system disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0237134 fails to provide a razor with a head that works in concert with the sharpening system. This sharpening system does not use drums with an abrasive material to sharpen the blade nor is the blade sharpened by rotational movement of the drums. Further, the razor does not open and extend into the sharpening device through the use of a cam track to expose the blade of the razor. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,104,874 discloses a razor sharpening system. However, this sharpening apparatus does not use drums with an abrasive material directly attached on an outer diameter of the drums nor does the razor open and extend the razor blades upon insertion into the sharpening apparatus. This sharpening apparatus is directed towards prolonging the use of a disposable razor, rather than a razor that is specifically designed to operate in concert with the sharpening device. The sharpening apparatus is used to resharpen existing cartridge razors but does not expose the underside of the razor blade.